(Reuters) – McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo has given a thumbs-up to new flame-resistant gloves, developed by Formula One’s governing body after Romain Grosjean’s fiery crash in Bahrain last year, following trials at the Turkish Grand Prix weekend.
Grosjean made a miraculous escape from a fireball crash in November but suffered burns to the back of his hands as he clambered free of the wreckage.
The Frenchman’s Haas car speared through the protective barriers lining the track in a 53G impact that split it in half and burst into flames.
The governing FIA has been working on improving protection from fire and last week announced that selected drivers would be testing new gloves for comfort and dexterity during Turkish Grand Prix practice.
“I used them…I didn’t notice the difference,” said Australian Ricciardo, one of five authorised to try them out.
“I’m also not very fussy with kit…but completely fine for me. It’s a nice addition without any downside.”
Race director Michael Masi said the test went well.
“Due to..Romain’s incident it was an area we started working on immediately, and I think we identified very quickly that it was an area we could improve,” he told reporters.
“The initial feedback from the drivers is ‘Yup, all good’. There is a couple of fine-tuning elements with a couple of the brands but nothing insurmountable.”
Masi said the flame-proof properties had already been proven and it was now just a question of driver comfort.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ed Osmond)
